


Finding family

by MiriRainbowitz



Series: Familia potestas est [1]
Category: Leverage
Genre: Alternate Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-24
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-25 13:50:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3812905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiriRainbowitz/pseuds/MiriRainbowitz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An ex-insurance agent who stopped using magic. A grifter with limited precognition. A hitter who has to suppress his empathy. A hacker who can tell if people are lying to him. A thief who, despite her appearance, isn't exactly human. Individually, they're not much, but together? They could change the world- and, maybe, find themselves a family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finding family

The two humans on the roof with her smelled… interesting. 

No, not in a “you’d make a nice meal” way- she was a human now, and she _did_ know that humans shouldn’t eat each other- but in a “you have powers” way. Even though the long-haired one was clearly doing his best to suppress his power (the stench of the potion he used was almost strong enough to make her nauseous), the underlying scent of his power was still there.

The scent of the two humans powers, the lingering smell of human magic around Nate- it was part of the draw of this job. Yeah, the money was the majority of the reasons she was doing this, but the sense of familiarity, of _companionship_ that the scents evoked was a nice perk. 

She heard the dark one talking in a dismayed tone and pulled herself out of her thoughts. 

“It’s a bone-conduction earpiece mike,” he said. “It works off the vibrations in your jaw.”

“You’re not as useless as you look,” replied the long-haired one.

“I don’t even know what you _do_ ,” the dark one said.

Parker swung down from the rig she was perched on. “Can I have one?”

“You can have to whole box,” the dark one replied, and Parker grabbed one of the mikes and swung back up, fitting it in her ear. Once she was done, she dropped down and started attaching herself to the rig. 

The thing was- she didn’t really need it. She wore a human body, certainly, but even in her real body, she needed just a little bit of magic to fly- magic that she could use to slow her descent after she leaped off the roof of this building. But no- Archie had said that she needed to blend in (well, as much as she could), so for all intents and purposes, she was an extraordinary thief- but a completely powerless human. Using the rig was her only option.

It was a pity, though- she did love flying.

 

“You’re precisely why I work alone.”

 _Lie_ , Alec thought. _Well- half a lie, anyway_.

It wasn’t a straight-up lie- that would have lit up in his mind like a Christmas display on steroids. Eliot Spencer’s statement felt foggy, which indicated that it was more like a half-truth than a full-truth. 

Before he could spend more time thinking about it, Nate started talking, and Alec focused. He was on this rooftop for a job, not a socializing session. 

Nate started the countdown, and Alec sarcastically remarked “Aw, he doesn’t want to be our pal.”

“We’re on the count! 5, 4, 3-”

Alec heard Parker running behind him, and then Eliot interrupted Nate with “She’s gone.”

“Son of a-!”

Parker let out a shrill “Yee-ha!” as she dived off the roof, and Eliot and Alec rushed over to the edge she’d jumped off of. After a couple of heart-stopping seconds, she slowed down and stopped. 

“That’s 20 pounds of crazy in a 5 pound bag!” Eliot growled, and Alec found himself nodding. Parker was hot- no doubt about it- but very weird.

 

When Alec woke up with no money in his account, the suspicions that had been sitting dormant in his mind since he was hired by Dubenich began to grow. He had known that something about Dubenich was off- his story had felt foggy in Alec’s mind- but the offer of 300K had silenced those doubts, at least temporarily.

Now, though…he knew he’d pulled off the job, he’d sent the file, and oh look, a text to the burner phone that he wasn’t getting paid, let’s talk about it, here’s an address? That was some _serious_ bs- Alec didn’t even need his power to let him know that- but hell, talking to Dubenich face-to-face would probably help him figure out what was going on.

An hour later, Alec was pointing a gun at Eliot Spencer, and an image loop of Admiral Ackbar yelling “It’s a trap!” was taking up like 75% of his thoughts. Then Nate showed up, some talking, Parker showed up, and yeah, all 4 of them had totally just walked into a trap.

Alec barely had time to think _I knew it_ before he took off running after Parker and Nate. He followed them up the short staircase before tripping and thinking _I do not want to die like this_.

To his surprise, he felt Eliot Spencer, who’d been behind him, lift him up by the back of his shirt, and he took off again, running for the door that was slowly opening up.

He’d barely gotten out of the warehouse before he heard a loud explosion, and a split second before he blacked out, he could have sworn he saw a giant pair of wings snapping open just behind him.

 

Parker snapped her wings back into her body, then sagged onto her knees. She looked around and breathed a little sigh of relief- she’d managed to shield Nate and the other two from the worst of the explosion, so they were just unconscious, but not burned or dead. 

Satisfied that the humans were safe, Parker stood back up- or, more accurately, _attempted_ to stand up and couldn’t. The sudden and partial transformation she’d just done and undone had drained a lot of energy from her. 

Before she blacked out, she thought that no matter where or how they locked her up, she could get out pretty easily. After all, what was a prison to someone who’d been a thief for over 2 decades?

 

Nate woke up with a start, then realized two things in quick succession- he was in a hospital, and he was also handcuffed to the hospital bed.

“You don’t like hospitals,” he heard Eliot say.

“Not much,” he replied quietly, his mind already whirring with escape plans. He knew Parker had likely already gotten out of her cuffs, if not the hospital already, and he, Eliot, and Hardison were stuck here. Eliot could probably get out, even though he was handcuffed to the chair, and before Sam- a few years ago, Nate could have probably used magic to get out, but now his only advantage was his mind. 

After a minute of talking, he was piecing together a plan. Of course, it was a plan that required all four of them to work together, which wasn’t supposed to happen, but hey- separately, only Parker and maybe Eliot could get out, and he’d really like to not go to prison.

Somehow, the plan worked, and now, he was in a very large apartment that apparently belonged to Hardison, feeling himself get angry. It was already bad enough that he was hired for a job that turned out to just be a crime, and that the person who’d hired him had used his son, but the fact that he’d almost gotten away with it? That was infuriating. He needed to get back at Dubenich- even if it meant helping a company that was insured by IYS.

Just like the hospital, his brain was buzzing with ideas. If he could convince Parker, Eliot, and Hardison, he’d have a thief, a hitter, and a hacker- running game on Dubenich would probably need a grifter, and oh, did he have someone in mind for that. 

“Let’s go get Sophie,” he said before walking out the door. He didn’t even bother calling ahead- chances were, Sophie had already seen them coming before they even started the job, and if she hadn’t, it would be a nice surprise for her.

 

When Sophie heard someone clapping at the mouth of the alley, something inside her said, _This is it. This is the life-changing moment_. 

It had been hovering over her for almost a week now, the mental heaviness that signified that very soon, she would make a decision that would change the course of her life. She looked up to see Nate Ford standing there with 3 other people.

“I thought you were great,” he said as he walked towards her, and she replied, “My only fan.”

“I’m a citizen now,” she continued. “Honest.”

“I’m not,” he replied after a few seconds, and _ah_ , there it was. Join him- maybe for a day, maybe forever- or keep her “normal” life.

Come to think of it, not really much of a choice at all.

“Are you in?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t miss this,” she replied, and damn if that statement wasn’t 100% true.

 

Externally, Eliot knew he had a neutral-angry expression. Internally, Eliot was calling himself an idiot in every language he knew, because he’d only brought enough suppressor potion to Chicago for one day, and depending on how long it took to run whatever con Nate was planning, he’d be here for up to a week. He wasn’t worried about the physical effects of not taking the potion- the disaster in Burma had made him switch to a suppressor that didn’t have nasty withdrawal effects- but his mental health was another thing. A hitter who could feel the pain and suffering he doled out was not a very good hitter.

At the very least, he had a good handle on influencing other people’s emotions- that was something that he’d always been able to compartmentalize very easily- but he’d only stopped feeling other people’s emotions when he was taking suppressors. Now, as he sat down on the couch between the two women, he was awash in everyone’s emotions- interest and some low-level anger from Nate, curiosity and muted excitement from Sophie, boredom and hunger from Parker, and actual happiness from Hardison.

Hardison was talking, but the disinterest in his voice was making Eliot a bit disinterested too. _If he wants people to pay attention, he should sound more enthusiastic_ , Eliot thought. _I could probably- no. I don’t care about him or anyone else here, I’ll probably never see him again after this is done_.

“Victor. Now when was the last time you met a Victor?” Nate asked, and Eliot replied, “Vietnam. Town called Ban Houei Xai.”

“Chinese border,” Sophie said, turning to look at him. 

“That’s an odd thing for you to know,” he replied, leaning back.

“That’s an odd place for you to be,” she said, leaning back until their faces were at the same level, and felt a spike of impressed interest from her.

Hardison started talking again, and Eliot felt a touch of smug satisfaction from Nate. Normally, this would have pissed him off a bit, but right now, he was finding it hard to really care. _Hmm. Maybe that was because he wasn’t on the suppressor_. 

He’d probably have to look into that when this was over.

 

“Here comes a mountain of suck,” Alec grumbled as he sat down in front of his computers. The plan that Nate had outlined was a very good plan, and Alec thought that it had a good chance of working, but then there was Sophie.

When she started talking, Alec cringed a little bit, waiting for a completely over-the-top performance…that never came. If Alec didn’t know any better, he’d swear up and down that he was actually listening to Anna Gunnstott from the African Commercial Blah Blah Whatever.

“She’s not awful,” he said in a surprised tone.

“This is her stage,” Nate replied as he paced behind Alec. “Sophie Devereaux is the finest actress you’ve ever seen…when she’s breaking the law.”

“Come on,” came Sophie’s voice over the computer. “Let’s go and talk somewhere a little less formal, eh?”

Alec had to bite back a laugh as he heard Dubenich stuttering and stumbling over his words.

“Okay, and…now,” said Nate, and Alec turned his attention to the computer, quickly and easily hacking the secretary’s computer and shutting it down. When he was done, Alec grinned. Now that he knew how good of a grifter Sophie was, the con that they were pulling on Dubenich should be a piece of cake.

 

In another life- where his main talent wasn’t taking down people- Eliot thought that he could have made a good grifter. Being able to read the secretary’s emotions had helped him keep her attention off of Dubenich’s office when Parker was breaking into it, and now, back in Hardison’s enormous loft, everyone’s generally positive emotions was a nice background.

Nate walked back over to the pool table from the computers, and Eliot offered him a beer, which Nate declined. Nate took his shot, and Eliot said, “You look better. Than when we started.”

Nate’s face belied the emotional turmoil that Eliot’s words had just ignited. He breathed out a “yeah” and straightened up.

“And that bothers you, huh?”

“I- yeah. This isn’t supposed to feel-”

“Good? It’s not that hard to figure out- Dubenich screwed ya, he cheated by stealing from that other company, and your good guy brain sees him as the bad guy. Your conscience is clear.”

“Your file said that you take suppressors,” Nate replied. “So that you don’t read people’s emotions.” _Like you’re doing right now_ was heavily implied.

Eliot shrugged. “Only brought enough for one day,” he said. “So if you want to talk about anything-”

“Eliot, you are neither my friend, nor my therapist,” Nate interrupted.

“Then who is?” At Nate’s blank look, Eliot continued, “Your friend. Your therapist.”

Nate said nothing. “That’s what I thought,” Eliot said. He turned to face Nate and saw Sophie coming over. “Incoming.”

 

Nate barely had time to compose himself before Sophie was standing next to him and asking him to help her with her earpiece. Up close, she was distracting- her smell, her body heat- but he knew better than to actually give in. He had had some practice with that, when he used to chase her.

If he was being honest, their- _something_ could have happened, if he’d met her before Maggie. They were both attracted to each other, and before he’d stopped using magic, it had drawn him a bit to her- it would have made it a bit easier to connect to her than to Maggie, who had neither magic nor any powers. 

But the past was the past, and even if he was the most powerful magic-user alive, he couldn’t travel back in time and redo things, so he put the mike in her ear and didn’t reply to her comment about actually being inside her head or Hardison’s reaction. 

 

 _This would be easier if I could cast a spell_ , Nate thought as he stood up. It could have worked, too- a small illusion, a freezing spell, setting Dubenich’s clothes on fire- would have given Sophie enough time to get downstairs to meet Dubenich, but Nate didn’t use magic anymore, so a regular, mundane distraction would have to do.

With that in mind, Nate pulled out his baton and smashed the windows of the 3 nearest cars, and silently sent up a prayer that this would work. This meeting needed to go according to plan, which meant Sophie had to string Dubenich along for just a little bit longer.

As he walked back the table, Nate felt glad that Eliot wasn’t here, because he really had enjoyed doing that way too much. 

 

There was certainly something to be said for the role Sophie was playing. Ever since she went honest, her roles were always just one person, but this- convincing Dubenich that she worked with the Nigerians, and convincing the Nigerians that she was Dubenich’s assistant- this was what she loved about grifting. The selective truths, the subtle manipulating of all the parties involved, these were her bread and butter.

As she slipped the envelope containing the check into her jacket and pulled out the identical-looking envelope for Dubenich, Sophie didn’t even need a vision to know that this was going well. Dubenich was _hooked_.

She watched Dubenich get into his car, and felt more than saw the others step out into view. She knew there would be someone taking pictures- pictures that proved that she was in league with Nate and the others- but that was the point. Dubenich had to “figure out” what they were doing.

“We got him?” asked Nate, and Sophie confidently replied, “We _own_ him.”

 

“Yeah,” came Dubenich’s voice as he picked up the phone.

“Yeah, you should have just paid us,” Nate said as he walked along the path.

“I _found_ the transmitter,” Dubenich countered angrily.

“No, you found the transmitter with the blinking light,” Nate answered smugly. “Yeah, we wanted you to figure _some_ of it out, then we just gave you what you were expecting.”

As they continued to talk, Nate couldn’t help feeling smug- and, worryingly enough- a bit happy. He was a good guy, Dubenich was a bad guy, but the happiness that he’d felt at taking him down was stronger than those facts could account for.

 

Even as they walked away from each other- each with a _staggering_ amount of money in their hands- Sophie could tell that this wasn’t it. The choice- Nate or normalcy- had been weighing on her for an entire _week_. No way in hell was this a walk-away.

She watched as Nate, Eliot, Hardison, and Parker approached, and dialed Nate’s cell phone. When he looked up and saw her, she hung up and walked over to him.

“You pick the jobs,” she said.

“My job is- _helping_ people,” he replied. “I _find_ bad guys.”

“Well, go find some bad guys,” Sophie said. “Bad guys have money.”

Sophie’s power was a limited view of the future, but her talent was reading people, and yes, there it was- Nate was considering the idea, was teetering on the edge.

“Black king. White knight,” she said, and watched him fall over the edge.


End file.
